This winter sports season will mark the debut of Roseville High School’s first ever freshman boys soccer team.

According to athletic director Emily Dodds, the implementation of the team became official after the last Roseville Joint Union High School Board of Trustees meeting held on Oct. 25.

After the team was approved, Dodds said that the search for a freshman team head coach began immediately. Varsity boys coach Pablo Gutierrez said that he has a few possible candidates in mind for the position but does not want to confirm anything until his decision is finalized.

Gutierrez is excited for the upcoming season and has high hopes for the new freshman team, believing that its addition will benefit the soccer program and its players in many ways.

“Having a freshman team gives more players a chance to develop,” Gutierrez said. “First of all, it will give more boys an opportunity to play soccer for Roseville High [School]. Secondly, it will give coaches an opportunity to start building a process much earlier. Boys develop physically at different times so the freshman team gives all boys time to catch up with each other so by the time they reach varsity they are physically fully developed.”

Freshman Sean Dahlberg will attend tryouts this year with hopes of making the JV team. He feels that a freshman team will not provide much of a challenge for new high school soccer players but believes that it is a good thing because of that fact that it will allow more student-athletes to become a part of the RHS soccer program.

“I have mixed feelings about it. I guess I would still like to play JV because it would be more of a challenge,” Dahlberg said. “I guess that now there is a freshman team, there is more opportunities for other freshman to play and lots of open spots.”

Senior Pedro Rivas is a two-year varsity soccer player and plans to begin his third and final varsity season this winter. Although not directly affected by it, Rivas thinks highly of the freshman team addition and looks forward to seeing the program grow.

“I think it’s amazing actually,” Rivas said. “It excites me because the soccer community is growing at Roseville High School and it’s going to help show and develop the kids to the higher and faster levels of soccer.”

Senior varsity defender Daulton DeCarlo agrees with Rivas and believes that the freshman team will allow for an easier step-up for players coming up to the high school level.

“I believe it will be a lot easier for the freshman boys to transition,” DeCarlo said. “When you first come into high school and have to play at the JV level sometimes you are thrown up against guys that are bigger and stronger than you are. Being able to play against other freshman first before you go up to the next level will give you a lot of time to smoothly transition.”